Weepy Old Killer
by Mystrivin
Summary: Short story. An unknown, unwilling, shell-shocked time-traveler lands himself in past. Without anything else to do, he tries to exist in that time line. But there's a funny thing you should know about life. It always changes. Rated T for language.
1. Weepy Old Killer

I don't own Naruto.

Weepy old killer

Mystrivin

…

He had hidden blades.

…

The sky was the same color as the steel edge of a blade.

The air was frigid like the pieces of icy clouds suspended in the sky.

The barren trees stood stalk still like the frigid air.

The man stood over the gravestone like a sad old guard.

In his left hand he held a bouquet of flowers. His right traced the names of everyone he knew. And he remembered them.

…

Once, long ago, they were his comrades, his friends, and yes, his family. That all ended when he took up the blade. To become a ninja. To become a killer. Thus, it was the world of predator and prey. The only prayer was not to become prey.

His village, once a proud, vicious, respected predator, now reduced to nothing. It had become lazy, perhaps even sedated when the war came. He took up his blade against his village's enemies. They were numerous. But it wasn't enough. Thus there was no village.

There is no village to protect.

He put down his blade.

But he always regretted.

…

Proud trees which once donned leaves like a fur coat, leaves that fell and danced and swirled in any direction. Magically fluttering with the wind, horizontally, like graceful dancers in a swift and complex dance.

Barren trees.

He strolled under those trees.

…

The wind picked up, yet the sound wasn't right. There was no applause from the leaves. The applause that sounded like rain. No more pitter patter upon the slate stone while made the cliff he stood upon.

There was no rain.

Not anymore.

No life.

Save him.

…

Why didn't he die?

Why was he still alive?

No, this wasn't living. This was just simply existing.

He had nothing to live for.

All that he lived for was lost.

There wasn't any point to it.

No point indeed.

He feel.

Freedom.

…

I felt like I was being forced into a small tunnel. Shoved, really. It wasn't all that pleasant. Idly, I wondered if this was death was supposed to be like. Because if it was, it wasn't all that interesting. Did all of my friends have to go through this?

Slowly, the pressure on my body eased somewhat and it felt like I was suspended. As if multiple strings were attached to my body and holding me in mid-air.

"You are fortunate."Coming from all around me, this is what I would describe as a disembodied voice.

"…" I made no response. There was no need to.

"You will take a second journey. Very few have this chance. You should enjoy it. It isn't everyday that I'll do something like this," It continued, musing, "You have so much of this thing your psychologist called PTSD that I think you won't listen to me even if I told you about what I'm doing. Maybe I'll get around to explaining it to you when I wake up." It sounded sad, "And when your mind isn't broken."

…

In the breeze there was applause, the rain of life.

My body basked in the warmth of the sun.

My back lay upon something soft. This wasn't the ground I was used to. It actually had grass. Huh, imagine that.

"Hey mister! What are you doing lying on the ground?! Is it a form of special ninja training?"

I cracked an eye open. I saw orange.

What.

The.

Hell?

…

Myst: A short intro/prologue. Yeah, it's has a touch of time-travel. But this time, it'll be a short story, I promise.


	2. And Who Might You Be?

I don't own Naruto

And who might you be?

Mystrivin

…

Think of an image.

…

Imagine a teenage girl with straight short white hair, side part on the left side, a lazy condescending look upon her face. Imagine her in a simple black dress which ended above her knee, a tight, cool, black, suave jacket covering her torso. She wasn't very tall. One could call her petite, really. Black combat boots completed the picture of this tough-girl.

Strapped to her back was a katana.

Yet the most shocking thing about her was not her shoulder-length white hair, but her red eyes. Like those that a wild dog could possess. But right now, they were bored. Calm. Restrained.

She just strolled into Konoha.

…

I did not stare at him.

Even though he was supposed to be dead.

Instead, I closed my eyes again and didn't answer him.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! I'm going to become the best ninja in this village so you better respect me!"

Even without looking at him, I could tell that he was indignant. Jumping up and down and waving his fist angrily at me.

I sighed.

He pouted.

Silence was met.

A very _long_ silence.

I started to snore.

If my guess was right, the boy's eye should be twitching.

He stomped over (not very ninja-like, is he?) and tried to grab the collar of my black trench coat.

I emphasize _tried_.

Instinct kicked in. It was ingrained in me.

In a blur of motion, the boy was on the ground with a kunai at his throat. I finally opened my eyes. His blue ones were staring at me with his eyes wide with shock. Then slowly a smile formed on his face.

"That… Was so cool!" He began to wave his arms, seemingly unaware of the fact that I could kill him.

I raised an eyebrow.

Does he not have a fear of death?

The man I knew didn't.

But this child… This boy… Couldn't be him. Could he?

I'm starting to get a headache.

I need to sort this out.

"Can you teach it to me?" The boy asked, blue eyes pleading.

But not here.

I pulled away my kunai and stood over him, almost looming. My eyes were calm and dead. I put away the kunai and finally answered him.

"No."

With that, I disappeared with a swirl of leaves.

…

There was a young boy sitting on the bough of a tree.

He had long black hair pulled into a ponytail and narrow blue eyes.

He wore simple khaki shorts and a black shirt with basic tennis shoes.

Not a ninja at all.

He had a pair of black cat ears which perked up from the sides of his head where human ears should be. A complex tattoo could be seen where bare skin was shown. It looked tribal. The most distinct part of the design was the three slashes of black, like claws, streaked across his left cheek from the bridge of his nose, joining with the rest of the markings and hiding under his black shirt. The design continued on his arms and legs, and stretching the imagination a bit, they might have looked like wings and the head of some creature opening its jaw toward his left ankle.

Not a human at all.

He grinned a mysterious grin, a fang peeking out.

"This should be fun." He smirked.

He too, disappeared.

A demon.

…

Sakura was in heaven. She was just placed in the same team as her love, Sasuke (or at least, in her mind, it was love). Strolling past the kitchen, she hummed a happy tune. Her smile was contagious. Her mother smiled as she chopped some vegetables, preparing for dinner. Perhaps she can ask her daughter about what happened that made her so happy. Though she already had a pretty good guess.

...

Sasuke was in hell. He wiped his brow of sweat as he glared at the poor wooden training dummy in front of him. Why?! Why was he place in the the same _team_ as that dead last and screaming girl?! It wasn't _fair_! He didn't have time for such idiots. He needed to get stronger. They were just going to slow him down. He worked hard to get where he was now. There was no way he was going to fail the test tomorrow.

...

Naruto was torn. On one hand, he was in the same team as his crush, Sakura (what lovely-colored hair she had...). On the other, he was placed in the same team as that _bastard_, Sasuke. The guy who has a stick up his ass and can't even smile. Tch! So annoying! Though... Today was interesting. An old ninja totally jumped him (it wasn't because he was a gennin, honest!) and totally brushed him off. But.

He was _so cool!_

One day, he would be as cool as that ninja and definitely stronger.

He grinned, slurping his ramen.

...

Myst: OK, that sets up all the characters. This should only take a few more chapters to finish. Though the effects of this story would probably extend farther than what is written here. I will let your imagination decide.


	3. Seal Smoker

I don't own Naruto.

Seal Smoker

Mystrivin

…

I ran away from that vision of my past, present, and future. He wasn't, isn't! Supposed to be alive. Not after the war. I lost everything. Everything that I held close to me, everything that I held dear to me, everything that mattered to me was lost in that god-thrice-damned war. What the hell was going on?

Conflicting emotions ran through me as I ran from rooftop to rooftop, ever heading for training ground 41. My training ground. Something familiar. Something that won't change. I desperately need it.

Why am alive when all _they_ are all dead?

Did it have something to do with my accidental merging with my summon?

That can't be it.

Could it?

I can't hear her anymore, that's for sure.

I landed on the ground with a tap, walking slowly toward familiarity. Danger.

The forest of death.

I entered and breathed in the scents that I knew so well. It calmed me down.

I trained here, slept here, and yes, even hid here. As strange it sounded, this was my home.

Picking a random trail and walking down it, I knew that there were few Konoha ninja that were crazy enough to consider this place to train. So the chances of meeting anyone here to disturb my thoughts were very low.

_Well… With the exception of Anko._

The trees were still as large as they used to be... Or maybe they just are that way? The undergrowth is, was (?) thick, buzzing with life. The sunlight couldn't pass through the leaves, which reached out like hands as if purposely blocking it out. What little light that did filter though those outstretched leaves made small patches of light on the ground.

I tread softly.

Don't panic.

Think slowly.

In ANBU, we were taught that when in an unfamiliar situation or place to ask a series of questions. The first was, of course, were you panicking? If so, do some meditation exercises and calm down. Then came the next few questions which were very important to one's survival. I cursed myself for being so forgetful and sloppy. My superiors would have surely scorned my un-ninja like conduct. Sighing, what was done was done. I would have to live with my mistakes. Now I was calm. Now was as good a time as any to ask those questions.

Where am I?

I am in Konoha. OK. Good check that. Not a genjutsu? Meh… Figure it out later.

What situation am I in?

I scoffed. In a confusing one. Skip this question. Think about it later.

When is this?

In other words, how long have I been out? Not sure. Again, skip.

Why am I here?

Hm… Let me think about that for a second. I don't know. Here comes the kicker…

How did I get here?

No idea.

Well, that was enlightening.

"Boo!"

Suddenly, a face, upside-down, appeared.

Out of instinct, I leaped back and shot a kunai at the hanging target.

The kunai stopped about a foot in front of the face (which I found was indeed attached to a body, hanging upside-down from a branch above) and floated.

The boy, if I could describe him as such, pouted. "Hey… That wasn't very nice."

I stared, eyes narrowed.

What was wrong with this kid and why did he have cat-ears?

He flipped down from his perch and dusted off his clothes with a grin, letting the kunai float over to me.

I glared at my kunai suspiciously, as if it was a traitor by floating a mere foot away from me.

The boy sauntered over to me casually, hands interlocked behind his head in a carefree manner. "You know… It's not going to _do_ anything." He continued to grin, mocking me.

"I know that." I growled out, snatching the kunai and tucking it away before the boy could do anything stranger with it.

"Zwi." The boy said suddenly.

"What?"

"My name, it's Zwi." He stated again, "You want to know what's going on, right? To know whether or not you really _are_ in the past or if you're going crazy or in a genjutsu or something." His irritating grin didn't leave his face the whole time.

Grudgingly, I nodded.

"I can help you there, just need a bit of your trust. Knowing how paranoid you are, I figured I'd introduce myself first before you used some jutsu to paralyze me and start interrogating me."

This boy knew more than he should and that made me suspicious.

"Argh! For crying out loud! Get that damned paranoid stick out of your ass and trust me, will ya?" Zwi seemed frustrated, his grin turning in to a frown that revealed a small fang. His hands that were behind his head were now folded across his chest.

There was silence as I didn't believe him.

Then he disappeared.

I was on full alert, ears trained to hear the tiniest of sounds, eyes darting back and forth, senses all heighted to find the threat. Yes, the boy was a threat.

Then I felt pressure on the back of my head and against my will, I relaxed.

"You will calm down and listen. I'm on your side." The voice of the light, playful, boyish voice was gone. In its place was a voice that was a combination of depth, light, and power.

Zwi sighed.

"Let's dive."

And then, darkness claimed me.

…

He exhaled. A wreath of smoke swirling in complex patterns in the air. His scarlet hair was of medium length and stubborn, flaring out at the ends like wings. The straw hat that ever adorned his head didn't help. He inhaled again from the long ornate pipe. And a curious pipe, it was. Where most pipes were made of wood and smooth, this one was made of metal and almost gaudy. It was gold and seemed stripped in different colored paper and ink, all of which seemed to avoid the orb inlaid near the joint of the pipe. The orb looked as if it was filled with water. Only that water tended to bubble and swirl and change color at random moments.

After another exhale, he got up, cursing the gods that his job made him to wear such a ridiculous getup. His outfit consisted of many layers of cloth. The outer layer was ornate with gold pattern on a scarlet background, covering the layers underneath. The layers underneath were indigo, violet, emerald, and snow. All in all, he looked like some strange man trying for a cross between a samurai and an emperor and failing miserably.

He was a hermit in a mountain in a cave.

He led a sad, pathetic life.

Yet his job was his life.

There was a pulse in the air as one of the messy lines of ink glowed from his pipe and broke, light fracturing and floating into the air. Those fragments turned into golden butterflies, fluttering toward the entrance of the cave.

"It's about time…" He grumbled.

He was exiting his cave.

…

Again, I was falling.

Farther and farther, faster and faster, into the depths.

But to where?

There was an echoing whisper.

"Don't worry. We'll be there soon."

Who's we?

…

Naruto could feel something. It was strange. Curious, he headed toward it instead of away from it.

As always, attracting trouble.

…

He was here. She could sense it.

Her steps became more impatient, irritated, and irrevocable.

She knew where he was.

She headed toward the forest of death.

…

"Come on… I'm just trying to get in, my pipe went glowing and everything and the glowing fragments lead me here, OK?"

He was drawing a great crowd of people at the gates of Konoha with his strange appearance and casual way of speaking. Behind him, the line of people trying to get into the village kept on getting more annoyed with the presence of this foreigner.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but no entrance visa or passport or supporting document of any kind then no entrance."

"Look bub, I'm not some part of some evil organization that's trying to take over the world or anything. I'm just a simple guy with a simple plan to follow where my glowing fragments lead me. Is that so bad?" The scarlet-haired, golden-eyed man took another annoyed puff of his pipe, blowing the smoke over his right shoulder. The smoke cloud was getting fairly condensed and was not helping with the situation at all. The guard waved his hand in front of his own face once more to dispel the worst of the smoke. It wasn't enough.

"I'm sorry sir, but if you have no real reason for entering Konoha, I will have to ask you to please go back to the end of the line and…"

…

"Heh heh… Losers." The scarlet man smirked, giving himself mental pat on the back and a long draw from his pipe. He squatted on the top of the wall, blowing smoke down, adding to the cloud that covered the guard and the first few people in line. The guard was, were there no cloud of smoke, arguing clearly with no one.

Exhaling the last of that spell, he turned and jumped into Konoha and followed the glowing golden butterflies.

…

Myst: Whoops… Added another character. My bad. He just sort of wrote himself into it. Not really happy with this chapter. But got to get through it so that the more interesting things will happen. Everything gets explained and revealed in the next one or two chapters so we'll get a climax and conclusion soon.


End file.
